Shipping-crate



A V1 A WW2-F No. 6||,228. .Patented sept. 27, |898.

N. P. BAncLAY & c. M. DAYTON.

SHIPPING CRATE.

' d ept. 3 1

I (No Model) (Apphcatxon file S 0 891x 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

NT-N1 'l No. 6|I.228. Patented Sept. 27

N. P. BARGLAY & C. M. DAYTON.

SHIPPING CRATE. (fippucarion med sept. so. 1897.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

iNo Model.)

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NiT-ED STATESI PATENT OFFICE.

NATHAN P. BAROLAY AND CHARLES M. DAYTON, OE BOWLING lGREEN, KENTUCKY.

SHIPPING-'CRATE SPECIFICATION forming part'o'f Letters Patent No. 611,228, dated september 2v, 189s. Application filed September 30, 1897. Serial No. 653,5 75. (No model.)

T0 all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, NATHAN P. BARCLAY and CHARLES M. DAYTON, citizens of the United States, residing at Bowling Green, in the county of Warren and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and useful Shipping- Crate, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to shipping-crates particularly adapted for poultry, and has forA its object to provide a simple and efcient construction and arrangement of parts adapting the crate to be folded into compact form; to provide such a construction as to adapt the parts of the crate to be secured by the same locking devices in either its extended or folded conditions, and to provide means for mounting the side walls whereby the strain in lifting the crate is sustainedby hangers connected with the bottom or'fioor to relieve the hinges.

Further Objects and advantages ofthis invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, FiOure l is a perspective view of a crate constructed in accordance with our invention. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the crate folded. Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the crate in its normal or operative position. Fig. 4 is a similar view of the same when folded. Fig. 5 is a detail view of a portion of the crate to show the construction of the side wall hinge and the han ger,whereby strain is communicated to the iioor vof the crate. Fig. 6 is a partial plan view to show the means for holding the door in its locked position and indicating in dotted lines the position thereof when disengaged for opening. Fig. 7 is a detail section to show the means of securing one end of the top wall from vertical displacement.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the gures of the drawings.

l designates the floor, from which rise side strips 2, having the folding side walls 3 hinged thereto, the fold-in g end walls 4 being hinged to the end edges of the bottom or floor. The

side walls are provided with terminal stops 5 to limit the outward-swinging movement of the end walls, and the latter are provided at vof thel top or cover.

their upper edges with rabbets, forming seats 6 to receive the extremities of the removable top or cover 7. The outer wall of oneV of the seats is preferably provided with an inwardlyextending stud 8 to engage a socket 9 in the end of the top or cover, and the opposite end of the top is provided with a headed pin 10 to engage a notch ll in the outer wall .of the'seat in the other end wall. The side walls are' also preferably provided with inwardly-extending studsV 12 to engage sockets in the sideV edges The side, end, and topwalls of the crate embodying` our invention are preferably of slatted construction, and it is obvious, as the -end walls are held from outward displacement by the stops on the extremities of the side walls and from inward displacement by the top wall, that to firmly connect kthe several parts of the crate it is only necessary to providemeans for preventing lateral displacement of the side walls, and hencedisengagement'of thestudson'said side walls from the side edges of the top. To accomplish this, we employ locking devices consisting of catches 13, having eyes 14 mounted to slide upon the slats of the side walls and provided with hooks to engage the contiguous parallel bars Of the side and top walls.

To apply the cover to the crate, the inwardly-extending studs of the side and end walls are inserted into the sockets provided in the corresponding edges of the cover, after which the catches 13 are slid upwardly upon the slats of the sidewalls and are dropped with their terminal studs in engagement with the side strips of the top or cover. Obviously the catches prevent the outward deflection of the side Walls to disengage the same from the side studs of the cover, and hence the cover and the walls of the crate are locked in, their proper relative positions.

A further advantage of the specified construction of locking devices resides in the fact that when the crate is folded with the end walls in contact with the bottom wall and the top wall resting upon said'end walls the side walls may fold over the top wall, as shown in Figs. 2 to 4., to provide for the engagement of said catches with intermediate longitudinal frame-bars 7a in said top wall.

We have found in practice that a serious disadvantage of folding crates resides in the IOO fact that the hinges of the side Walls thereof are exposed to strain when the crate is raised,

thus eventually distorting the hinges and rendering them inoperative. To avoid this disadvantage,we employ a peculiar construction of hinge for the side walls, (those being the only ones in our` construction which are not mounted directly upon the bottom or fioor,) the same consisting of a longitudinal hingerod 15, held in place by means of keepers or staples 16, to prevent intermediate lateral deflection, and connected with the bottom wall by means of hangers 17, constructed of a single continuous blank of Wire secured to the under surface of the bottom wall and provided at spaced points with loops which extend upwardly through openings in the bottom wall and are engaged with the hingerod. It is obvious that any upward strain upon the hinge-rod will be communicated directly to the bottom wall. The side Walls are provided with hinge eyes or loops 18, mounted upon said hinge-rod. Itis unnecessary to provide the end walls with hinges of this construction for the reason that upward strain upon the end walls will be communicated to the top wall and hence to the side Walls, and therefore the hinges of said end walls will not be strained. v

A further feature of importance in connection with the construction of the improved crate resides in the means whereby the door 19 in the top wall is mounted and held in its operative or locked position. `Said door is provided with longitudinal bars20, ot' a length greater than the interval between two transverse slats 21 and 22, which form the ends of the`door-opening, and said door is provided with eyes litting upon a hinge-rod 23, of a length greatly exceeding the width of the door and terminally secured to the top wall. This hinge-rod possesses transverse elasticity, and when in its normal or straight position the ends of the side bars 2O at the opposite ends of the door are held under and hence in engagement with the slat 22.v To` release the door, it is necessary to slide it longitudinally in opposition to the tension of the hingerod until the extremities of said side bars are removed from engagement with the end edge of the door-opening or the slat 22.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minordetails of construction maybe resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having described our invention, what We claim is-- 1. A shipping-crate having a bottom wall, side and end walls hinged to fold inwardly, the end walls between the planes of the side walls, and held from displacement by terminal stops on said side walls, a top Wall terminally seated in rabbets in the upper edges of the end Walls, engaging studs and sockets on the side and end walls and the edges of the top wall to prevent vertical displacement of the latter, and locks for preventing lateral displacement of the side walls, substantially as specified.

2. A shipping-crate having a bottom wall, side and end walls hinged to fold inwardly, the end walls between the planes of the side walls, and held from displacement by terminal stops on said side walls, a top wall terminally seated in rabbets in the upper edges of the end walls, engaging studs and sockets on the side and end walls and the edges of the top wall to prevent vertical displacement of the latter, and locks for preventing lateral displacement of the side walls, said locks consisting of hooks for connecting the contiguous edges of the side and top walls and mounted upon one of them, substantially as specified.

3. A shipping-crate having a bottoni wall, side and end walls hinged to fold inwardly, the end walls between the planes, of the side walls, and held from displacement by terminal stops on said side walls, a top wall terminally seated in rabbetsin the upper edges of the end Walls, engaging studs and sockets on the side and end walls and the edges of the top wall to prevent vertical displacement of the latter, and locks for preventing lateral displacement of the side walls, the same consisting ot' hooks to engage contiguous, bars of the side and top walls, and provided with eyes mounted to slide upon the slats of the side walls, substantially as specified.

4. A shipping-crate having a bottom wall,

`inwardly-folding hinged side and end walls,

a top wall arranged in the space inclosed by the upper edges of the side and end Walls and terminally fitted in seats in the end Walls, studs in the side and end walls engaging sockets in the edges of the top wall toprevent vertical displacement of the latter, said top wall being provided with intermediate longitudinal frame-bars, and hooks mounted to slide upon the side wallsto engage parallel frame-bars of the side and top walls, substantially as specified. 4

5. In a crate, the combination with a wall having a door-opening, of a door iitted in said opening and provided with bars of greater length than the opening and adapted to engage the inner surface of the wall at opposite ends of said opening, and a transverselyyielding hinge-rod of greater length than the width of the door and terminally secured to said wall, the door being mounted upon said rod and being capable of longitudinal movement in opposition` to the tension of said rod to disengage the end edge, opposite to said hinge-rod, from the contiguous4 end of the door-opening, substantially as specified.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own we have hereto afxed oursignatures in` the presence of two witnesses.

NATHAN P. BARCLAY. CHARLES M. DAYTON. Vitnesses:

WM. SToUT, AARON PHILIPS.

IOO 

